Austin City Council has voted to reject a settlement agreement of $750,000 after last year's officer-involved shooting of Nathaniel Sanders, Jr.  It took well over two hours with council debate, public input and speeches from numerous people in City Council chambers. As the vote for a $750,000 settlement payable to the Sanders family was up for roll call, Councilman Chris Riley made a secondary motion for $500,000.  Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell believes from a business perspective, the cost of a jury trial would be far less than the settlement amount negotiated by city staff.

News Radio 590-KLBJ's Emily Trube and Jarrod Allen have both sides of the debate:

 

Mayor Lee Leffingwell

 

Council member Rhandi Shade

 

Council member Cheryl Cole

 

Council member Bill Spellman

 

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell also said, "There could be a business case made for numbers which could cover the city's expenses for litigation and so forth and that number would be far, far below what has been said here today," Leffingwell said. "It's been said that this proposed settlement sends a message that the City of Austin admits that this has been an unjustified shooting. Once it's out there, that Jeanie is very, very hard to put back in the bottle, if not impossible."

"I think the best shot at this now is to let the process go forward, let a jury of peers make the decision. It would be the third or fourth decision. What we're talking about here is taking taxpayer money from taxpayers and giving it to other taxpaying citizens. Sometimes it's necessary, sometimes it's justified. But I would submit to you that before taking taxpayer money and giving it to somebody else, there has to be a clear and compelling case for that transfer. It hasn't been made to me," Leffingwell said. "At this point, I think the honest and most open way we can proceed is to reject the settlement and let it work its way through our system of justice."

Austin Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Martinez, who has repeatedly shown understanding for public safety issues, made a case against a settlement.

"I do not believe that if we take this to trial, we are immoral. I choose to believe that this is this body making difficult decisions. I don't believe that a community can come together if we agree to a settlement. I do personally agree, though, that a community can much more easily understand and come to an agreement through a process that we have in place, and that is a jury trial," he said. "My position is not just against a settlement offer, but is in favor of a jury trial." Martinez added "Regardless of whether we agree or not, all of us are trying to do what is best for our entire community,."

Council member Randi Shade, speaking regarding Councilman Chris Riley's secondary motion of a $500,000 settlement, believes it's not about gauging right from wrong. "This isn't about trying to negotiate dollar amounts or anything like that. This is about something that the other side would accept and this would be their choice. There is no other way to do that than in this public forum,"

Riley's motion failed by a 5-2 vote, with Riley and Shade voting in favor.

"I think we need to settle this case here and now. We should stop arguing about who is to blame and we should accept responsibility and make sure this does not happen again. We should accept the settlement and move on," Spelman said.

At 7:31 p.m., a vote on Austin City Council item #105 took place. The motion to accept the $750,000 settlement failed on a vote of four to three, with Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Martinez, Council member Randi Shade and Council member Chris Riley voting against it. Council members Laura Morrison, Bill Spelman and Cheryl Cole voted in favor of the motion to settle.

After the vote, Shade said. "I think it is incredibly insulting to suggest that any of us voted the way we did that this has anything to do with the police union."